If you’re thinking of catering a Mad Men party this weekend with authentic 1960s cuisine, you may want to reconsider—a look at the terrifying stuff that passed for dinner back then offers a clue as to why Julia Child was regarded as such a revolutionary. The following photos are from Betty Crocker’s Dinner in a Dish cookbook, published in 1965, a mayonnaise-slicked, canned-fruit dotted roadmap to an American culinary era thankfully gone by. First among the supper-time atrocities: a “Summer Salad Pie” (left), whose ingredients include lemon-flavored gelatin, tomato sauce, and tuna fish tossed together in a cheddar-cheese pie shell.
PARTY SANDWICH LOAF: This festive table topper only looks like dessert. It’s actually buttered white bread layered with three different fillings: shrimp-celery-egg salad, a cream-cheese-pecan-pineapple spread and chicken-bacon mash. The icing: more cream cheese, cut with light cream and tinted with green food coloring.
LOBSTER ÉLEGANTÉ: What makes this lobster so “éleganté? A cup and a half of shredded, processed American cheese, in a pairing that puts today’s postmodern chefs to shame.
STUFFED PEPPERS FESTIVO: As simple to make as they are beautiful: fresh green peppers, stuffed with a box of Betty Crocker’s macaroni and cheese, flecked with cubed ham.
CURRIED TUNA CASSEROLE: A blend of cream-of-mushroom soup, rice, canned tuna and canned onions gets its jazzy look from festive triangles of egg yolks, chopped peanuts, plumped currants, crabapple jelly, sliced green onions and crumbled bacon. Bon appetit, indeed.
And I thought the tuna casserole with crunched up potato chips was bad; these are unreal! Thankfully, some foods from the past are just as good now as they were then. Like good old fashioned pie.
well at least the cookbook had readily available ingredients unlike these days where you end up spending way too much on ingredients you only use once.
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[...] Food, Media on August 16, 2009 at 6:16 pm I love, love, love this Brokelyn post on “scary food from the Mad Men era”: If you’re thinking of catering a Mad Men party this weekend with authentic 1960s cuisine, you may [...]
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no frankaroni loaf?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chanadaal/2666272470/
Sam! That Frankaroni loaf is breathtaking! Thank you for sharing.
[...] she’s significant to those of us living in 2010. (Here’s a post on Brokelyn about the scary food from the show, but what about the scary food [...]
[...] love, love, love this Brokelyn post on “scary food from the Mad Men era”: If you’re thinking of catering a Mad Men party this weekend with authentic 1960s cuisine, you may [...]
[...] There are many things we lust over while watching Mad Men — the glamorous outfits, the adorable mid-century furniture, the vintage cocktails, all things Joan-related — but we can honestly say that we’ve never wished we were eating any of the food that has been featured on the show. Perhaps because on Mad Men, most meals aren’t exactly warm family moments. They’re actually pretty uncomfortable. The frequently repeated image of Sally and Bobby eating alone before Don (and then Henry) arrive home for the “real” dinner comes to mind. Or maybe it’s because a lot of the food back then was just plain scary. [...]
[...] There are many things we lust over while watching Mad Men — the glamorous outfits, the adorable mid-century furniture, the vintage cocktails, all things Joan-related — but we can honestly say that we’ve never wished we were eating any of the food that has been featured on the show. Perhaps because on Mad Men, most meals aren’t exactly warm family moments. They’re actually pretty uncomfortable. The frequently repeated image of Sally and Bobby eating alone before Don (and then Henry) arrive home for the “real” dinner comes to mind. Or maybe it’s because a lot of the food back then was just plain scary. [...]
Now tell me… what do you serve at your gatherings? I bet Doritos in a bowl with a dip of nothing… Copy and pasting links is very easy but putting together a Soiree, not so much! Bon appetit!!!